Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast
Abstract The southern right whale's ( Eubalaena australis ) demography, occurrence, habitat use, and behavior off South Africa are known predominantly from an ongoing aerial survey data set that started in 1971. The fixed timeframes of these surveys and their geographical bias towards south coa...
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crwiley:10.1111/mms.12116 2023-12-03T10:27:03+01:00 Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast Barendse, Jaco Best, Peter B. National Research Foundation, South Africa 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mms.12116 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmms.12116 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mms.12116 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Marine Mammal Science volume 30, issue 4, page 1358-1382 ISSN 0824-0469 1748-7692 Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2014 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12116 2023-11-09T14:29:03Z Abstract The southern right whale's ( Eubalaena australis ) demography, occurrence, habitat use, and behavior off South Africa are known predominantly from an ongoing aerial survey data set that started in 1971. The fixed timeframes of these surveys and their geographical bias towards south coast nursery areas have constrained our knowledge about the right whale's seasonal distribution elsewhere. We present shore‐based observations and tracking of right whales at Saldanha Bay on the west coast (2001–2003) that reveal a near year‐round presence and strongly nearshore distribution. With seasonal progression from winter to summer we observed a gradual increase in sighting rate, reduction in swimming speed, less directionality of movement, an increase in group size, and more surface active groups. The area appears to be important for feeding and socializing but not as a calving or nursery area. Individual transits between the south and west coasts, bidirectional alongshore movements, and extended seasonal presence may all be indicative of reoccupation of their former range along the west coast. This is important given the increasing ship traffic at Saldanha Bay, the rapid expansion of the region's oil and gas industry, and the known vulnerability of the closely related North Atlantic right whale ( E. glacialis ) to ship strikes. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) Marine Mammal Science 30 4 1358 1382 |
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Wiley Online Library (via Crossref) |
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language |
English |
topic |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
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Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Barendse, Jaco Best, Peter B. Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
topic_facet |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Abstract The southern right whale's ( Eubalaena australis ) demography, occurrence, habitat use, and behavior off South Africa are known predominantly from an ongoing aerial survey data set that started in 1971. The fixed timeframes of these surveys and their geographical bias towards south coast nursery areas have constrained our knowledge about the right whale's seasonal distribution elsewhere. We present shore‐based observations and tracking of right whales at Saldanha Bay on the west coast (2001–2003) that reveal a near year‐round presence and strongly nearshore distribution. With seasonal progression from winter to summer we observed a gradual increase in sighting rate, reduction in swimming speed, less directionality of movement, an increase in group size, and more surface active groups. The area appears to be important for feeding and socializing but not as a calving or nursery area. Individual transits between the south and west coasts, bidirectional alongshore movements, and extended seasonal presence may all be indicative of reoccupation of their former range along the west coast. This is important given the increasing ship traffic at Saldanha Bay, the rapid expansion of the region's oil and gas industry, and the known vulnerability of the closely related North Atlantic right whale ( E. glacialis ) to ship strikes. |
author2 |
National Research Foundation, South Africa |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barendse, Jaco Best, Peter B. |
author_facet |
Barendse, Jaco Best, Peter B. |
author_sort |
Barendse, Jaco |
title |
Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
title_short |
Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
title_full |
Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
title_fullStr |
Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the South African west coast |
title_sort |
shore‐based observations of seasonality, movements, and group behavior of southern right whales in a nonnursery area on the south african west coast |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mms.12116 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fmms.12116 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mms.12116 |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
op_source |
Marine Mammal Science volume 30, issue 4, page 1358-1382 ISSN 0824-0469 1748-7692 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12116 |
container_title |
Marine Mammal Science |
container_volume |
30 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1358 |
op_container_end_page |
1382 |
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1784276626448580608 |